Sex workers commemorated: Calls for decriminalisation of sex work reiterated

Memorial was held at the Mowbray Police station for Elma Robyn Montsumi, a 39-year-old sex worker in 2020 who died in police custody in April of that year. File picture: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency(ANA)

Memorial was held at the Mowbray Police station for Elma Robyn Montsumi, a 39-year-old sex worker in 2020 who died in police custody in April of that year. File picture: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency(ANA)

Published Aug 11, 2022

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Cape Town - Two years after sex worker Robyn Montsumi died under mysterious circumstances at the Mowbray police station, civil society organisations are still seeking answers.

This as the Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work, a group of sex work-supporting organisations and movements, is this month commemorating two sex workers who were killed as a result of what it said was stigma and discrimination caused by criminalisation of sex work.

Montsumi died in April 2020 while in police custody after she was arrested for possession of drugs and kept in a single police cell where she allegedly hanged herself. Montsumi was 29 at the time of the incident.

Nokuphila Khumalo, 23, at the time of her death, was murdered in April 2013 by Zwelethu Mthethwa in Woodstock. Mthethwa was later sentenced to 18 years by the Western Cape High Court in June 2017.

The coalition also reflects on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2016 and 2019 promises to stand in solidarity with sex workers.

Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce spokesperson Megan Lessing said no form of response had been received from Ipid, which investigated the case of Montsumi.

Lessing said letters to the SA Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Gender Equality where they laid a complaint also remained unanswered.

“We want to pressure the Office of the Presidency to facilitate the faceto-face meeting in December with the president. Meanwhile, we try to highlight the levels of abuse, violence, and murders that occur in the industry.

“The fact that sex work is a crime, everyone, including the clients, knows the sex workers would barely report a crime because it’s known that they would need to first admit what they were doing.

“You have to admit to a crime before asking for protection from another crime. This has happened where sex workers would report a crime only to be arrested for being sex workers and the perpetrator would walk scot-free.

“They get targeted for the work they do and are often raped,” she said.

The coalition’s national co-ordinator, Constance Mathe, said the delay in decriminalisation of sex work was putting the lives of sex workers at risk. Mathe said while they waited for the decriminalisation of sex work, violations and killings of sex workers were intensifying.

Ipid was approached for an update on Montsumi’s case but could not respond by the time of publication.

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